Priestess of the Snow
by ArtemiaNight
Summary: Kagome has returned after 3 years in her Era. She is different, cold, and secretive. Her mission will determine everyone's fate and if Naraku wins or loses in the end. She carries a cold burden upon her back.
1. Final Jump Through the Rabbit Hole

Chapter One: The Return

"..." is talking.

'...' is thinking.

*...* is beast talking.

Kagome's Point of View.

The sun had barely risen as I look out my window, reminiscing on the days of old; back when I was just a naïve schoolgirl, searching for the jewel shards and her place in the world. 'That was only three years ago, things sure have changed, but things are better this way, I can handle my own now. I don't need to rely on anyone to save me this time.'

I gaze over to my bag laying across the purple bedspread, everything I would need was in it for this last trip through the well. Instead of textbooks, skimpy school uniforms, or even modern bathing supplies; I packed my favorite kimonos, fighting outfits, a set of priestess garb, proper shoes, a sleeping bag, cooking supplies, a photograph of my family,vials of homemade medicines, and some weapons. 'I sure am going to miss the convenience of modern technology, but I'll manage on my own, it's not like I won't see this era again; it'll just be a very long time until then.'

Looking at the clock, I realize that it's time for me to get ready, there was much to do today. After I take my last modern bath with lilac bubble bath, I got dressed and stared in wonder at my reflection in the mirror. It still was hard to look at my new self even after three years. No longer was I my wide-eyed, childish self. Now I was leaner, more mature looking, my once brown eyes now stared back an icy steel-gray; midnight black hair had transformed into ankle length and pure white. My body was built for battle now, slender, lean, and strong, I could now fully hold my own even amongst the strongest of demons. The most astonishing features were my pointed elvin ears and my markings. My cheeks were grazed with two silver stripes on each side, my hips, ankles,eyes, and wrists shared these silver stripes, and positioned in the middle of my forehead, was a sliver eight-pointed snowflake. My skin was paler now, I no longer glowed like the sun, but instead it shined like newly fallen snow. Yes, I am a full-fledged demon marked with royalty, but that is a story that will have to wait for a later time.

I dressed to expect battle in a pair of white hakamas a grey haori with silver snowflakes all over it, paired with white boots. My hair was tied at the end with a silver ribbon. The last piece was a diamond snowflake choker necklace on a white ribbon. Tucked into the belt of my hakamas was a katana sheathed in white. Taking a last look in the mirror and finding my appearance satisfying, I grabbed my bag and took a last look at my bedroom. 'Well, goodbye modern conveniences.'

I took my time walking to the well, soaking in my home, reminiscing about my younger years. As I approached the well-house, I saw that my family was waiting for me to say goodbye. My mom had a proud smile, but my sensitive nose told me that she had recently cried. Grandpa and Sota were sullen-faced, not hiding their tears. Mom quickly embraced me, I hugged her tight, minding my demon strength. "It's ok Mom, I'm going to be fine. This is for the best though, thank you for everything you have done for me, I love you guys and I'll miss you so much". I pulled away slowly, automatically missing her warmth; I looked to Sota and Grandpa, "Thank you again, you both helped me out a lot when I had to go to the Feudal era,I greatly appreciate all that you have done for me. Sota, make sure you do well in school and look for that special someone who will truly make you happy. I love both of you," I say with a strained voice, I'm not good with goodbyes.

The door to the well-house was already opened for me to make my last trip down the rabbit hole. I climbed on the edge, turning back to my family. "Well, I'll be going now, take care of yourselves. Goodbye, I love you all so much." With a final smile to my family from the future, I jumped into the well, welcoming its blue light one last time.


	2. Return to the Feudal Fairytale

Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews so far! I'm happy to see that so many people are

enjoying the story so far! As usual, please review, I'm happy to hear your thoughts and if it needs improvement!

As usual Inuyasha is owned by the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi!

"..."- talking

'...'thinking

*...*beast talking

Chapter 2: Return to the Feudal Fairytale.

From the bottom of the well, I watched as the soft blue light disappear, and felt the magical energy from the well leave along with it. The link to the future had closed for good. *Welcome home Kagome,* My inner beast purred. It was nice to be back, the fresh, clean air was a definite welcome to my noise, and not hearing the drone of traffic was music to my ears. "It is goodto be back," I said to know in particular.

*How long do you think it will be until the half-breed finds us? He will undoubtedly catch wind of our scent.* With my demonic senses I knew he was in Kaede's village, but he wasn't alone.

*The undead priestess has returned yet again it would seem.* My beast grew restless with this knowledge. "Don't pretend like you didn't know about this. We saw it happen ourselves when we used that spell to check up on everyone." My inner scoffed at that remark. *Yeah, I know. Doesn't make it any less aggravating though.*

I approached the Tree of Ages and rested myself against it. "Yes I know. I knew that when I was tossed back into my era that he would find a way to revive her." I closed my eyes as the memories flooded back.

~Flashback~

"Are you sure you want to do this Kagome? You may not like what you see." Master explained. I sat on my knees in front of her, staring at the large crystal ball that sat in between us. "Yes Master, I need to see for myself."

"If you are sure,"She replied.

With that being said, she placed her hands on th sphere and started to chant. Soon her hands and the sphere were glowing blue, the same shade of blue from the well. As she removed her hands I was shocked at what I saw. Inuyasha had opened the gate to Hell and called for Kikyo's spirit. He used the magic from a dark priestess to giver her flesh and bone once more. I saw them embrace, and my heart dropped to my stomach.

"This confirms why Kikyo's part of your soul left your body. She has indeed risen back from the dead once more," my Master said. "So it does," I replied.

~End Flasback~

'He's coming. He knows that I am here.' I turened in the direction that we was approaching from waiting. When he stepped into the cleaning, I saw that he hadn't changed a bit, except that he had Kikyo riding on his back. I felt nothing though, no feelings of love or happiness to see him. I was frozen inside.

"Who are you Wench, and why do you smell like Kagome?!" he yelled, drawing Tetsuiga. Kikyo had climbed off of his back and stared at me with knowing eyes. She knew who I was.

"Hello to you too, Inuyasha. I see you haven't changed a bit. Still picking fights with people you can't win against,"I replied cooly. Might as well have some fun and get a workout in.

It worked too. Inuyasha then jumped at me with Tetsuiga raised, fully intending to kill me. "You never learn do you?" I asked as I easily dodged his attack. I drew out my ice whip from my claws and slashed at him. He cried as it hit him, being hit with my ice whip was like sticking your hand in dry ice, very painful.

Stubborn as he is, he kept coming at me, swinging his sword like a tree axe, I dodged him perfectly with my demonic speed. *I'm getting bored.* my beast growled. I agreed.

I jumped onto a branch of the Tree. "Sit boy.",I said. Inuyasha automatically faceplanted the ground at my command. He slowly got up from his crater with a shocked look on his face. "Kagome?" he asked. Gracefully, I jumped off the branch, landing on the ground without a sound.

"Hello Inuyasha. It's been a long time." I said. He slowly made his way to me, I knew that he wanted to embrace me, but I dodged instead, recieving a shocked expression from him. "Do not touch me Inuyasha, you are no longer worthy of that lost it when you brought Kikyo back to life. But I am not here to be pitied, truth be told, I'm not here for you at all, Inuyasha."I said calmly.

He looked at me with sad, guilty eyes. If I was my former self, I would've pitied him and tried to make him feel better. But that person is no more. "Why are you here then, Kagome?" he asked, his ears had flattened onto his head. He really was guilty and upset.

"I belong here now. Once you called upon Kikyo's soul from the Netherworld, you took the last bit that still resided within me, finally making me my own person again, but I was consumed by betrayal. To protect myself, the priestess who was training me took me to see a powerful demon who could, grant me the power to become a demon of my choosing. I told him to freeze my heart so that I could never feel pain again; so he did. Since I became a demon, I felt that I no longer belonged in the modern era. That same demon opened the well for me one more time so that I may find a place of my own here." I explained.

"But what about that mark on your head, if you were turned into a demon why are you marked for royalty?" Inuyasha asked.

My clawed hand reached up to touch the silver snowflake. "I wish I knew the answer to that myself. I was born with no connections to demons. Maybe this is part of my request to the demon who changed me. Maybe this mark will help me find what I'm looking for in this world,"I replied.

"Kagome, if you are a demon now, why do I sense spiritual power coming from you?" Kikyo asked, finally stepping out of the shadows. Another good question.

I was born a priestess so maybe my powers stayed with me when I turned," I answer. Deep inside I could feel my beast becoming restless. *I'm bored, why are you wasting time with these two, they were the ones who lead you to become this way. Either kill them or go away, I don't like being around those two.* I completely agreed. I may not have the capability to feel pain, I still didn't like remembering what happened.

"It's time for me to leave now, Inuyasha. I will not be staying with you in the village. I need to find my place, and I can not bear to be around you any longer." I said as a started to walk away.

Inuyasha nodded as he understood what I ment. For once, he wasn't going to fight to protect me. He had to protect Kikyo now. "Where will you go?" he asked.

Looking over the horizon I made up my mind. "I'm going to the slayers village to visit Sango and Miroku. They at least need to know I'm back."

'Yes, I will visit my old friends before I start my new mission alone. Inuyasha must not

know the truth'. I thought as I started to walk in their direction.

*He didn't even know you lied to him* my beast purred.


	3. Vanished

Chapter 3: Vanished

Thank you to everyone who is encouraging me in this process. I know I haven't updated in a while, I've been busy with college and family stuff. I recently got a new laptop so that should help a little bit with updating a little quicker. Again, thank you to all of my followers who are excited to read the next installments in this story, I hope that I will not disappoint you. Your encouragement means a lot to me!

Well, on with the story!

~ArtemiaNight~

"..."- talking

'...'- thinking

*...*- beast talking

The day moved along quickly as I wove in and out of trees and through open fields as I made my way to the Slayers Village. I was anxious to see my friends again. Part of me wondered if they would accept me now that I was a demon.

**You worry too much,* **my beast kept telling me.

I knew she was right, it would be more of a shock to find me alive than to realize I had turned into a demon. I really did worry too much.

**Are you going to tell them the full story about how you turned and the conditions your new form gave you?**

"No, they don't need to know. This is my business. They would worry if they knew and I can't have that. They need to focus on their mission to destroy Naraku, I have my own mission to attend to."

The sun was starting to set when I approached the village. I could sense Sango, Miroku, and Shippo in one of the huts, I knew that Kirrara and Shippo could sense me as well. I waited by the entrance as the two smaller demons came to welcome me with Sango and Miroku in tow. The two human looked confused as they saw me, but Shippo bounded into my arms.

"Kagome, you've returned! I missed you so much!" Shippo cried as he snuggled into my chest.

If I could feel any emotions and express them, I would've started tearing up, but I held him closer to console him.

"Kagome? Is that really you?" Miroku asked, his staff raised with caution.

I gave him a smile, "Yes, it is me. A lot has changed and I came to tell you that I've returned," I replied.

Sango ran up and hugged me tightly. "Sister, I missed you so much," she said, embracing me closely.

I could never forget that Sango and I had participated in a ritual to make us sisters many, many moons ago.

"Why don't we go inside and talk, I have much to tell you." I said.

We went into the hut and sat down as Sango passed around cups of tea to everyone. I wrapped my hands around my cup, but I couldn't feel it's warmth. I wondered if my touch was making the tea cool quicker.

"Have you found leads on Naraku?" I asked.

Sango and Miroku shook their heads. "We haven't seen no hide no hair since you left. He vanished into thin air." Miroku explained.

He was right, I couldn't sense his presence or the Sacred Jewel. There wasn't another Fuyouheki to mask his location. 'So where is he?' I wondered.

"Kagome, can you please tell us how you've made this enormous change?" Sango asked timidly.

I told them the same story that I told Inuyasha. How I changed because of his betrayal to me, how I didn't know why I was marked for royalty. I felt terrible for lying to them, but the less Inuyasha, Kikyo, and Naraku could find out, the better.

The sun was almost fully set when everyone started to get ready for bed, I would take the first watch, I was grateful that they fell asleep early as I snuck away for the night, but my beast kept her senses open for possible dangers.

They mustn't know the truth.


	4. Reappearance of an Old Foe

Chapter 4: Reappearance of an Old Foe

Hi everyone! I'm happy to be able to upload 2 chapter in the same day! Have nothing else to do while sitting at a cafe and waiting for a game to download. I hope to get more chapters posted quickly. I hope you're liking my story so far and that you will be watching for more chapters to be added. As always, feel free to review, I love hearing what you think!

~ArtemiaNight~

"..."-talking

'…' -thinking

*...* or when bolded -beast talking

Morning came around by the time I had returned to the hut to wait for the others to wake up. I brought with me two rabbits to cook up for breakfast. As I was putting the final spices into the stew, the others started waking up to the wonderful smell of rabbit. Everyone slowly started waking up and began to eat. As a demon, I didn't feel the need to eat, my body didn't require as much substance as a human's would. I guess that's why I never saw Sesshoumaru eat anything.

Sango and Miroku started packing for their trip back to Kaede's village, I journey I told them, that I would not be taking with them.

"But why not, you're not going to leave us are you? You just came back." Asked Shippo with sad looking eyes. Even his eyes didn't trigger an emotion. I smiled and patted him on the head, "I'll be coming back, but I can't be around Inuyasha right now and there's other things that I must attend to alone." I told him. He gave me a big hug. "Ok, but come back soon ok." he replied.

They got piled onto Kirrara's larger form and had just taken into the air off when I sensed a familiar evil aura.

"Kirrara, get everyone out of the sky!"I yelled as I drew my katana.

Naraku had appeared out of a cloud of miasma, clogging Kirrara's senses as they fell to the ground. I lept into the air and caught them all with ease. I set them onto the ground and turned to the evil being that hovered above us.

"Why Kagome, it's been such a long time. It's so good to see you again, I must say I like the change you've made, it suits you well. Maybe if you hand over your friends I won't kill you." he sneered.

I may have a frozen heart, but even that sent chills down my spine.

"Like hell you foul demon. You won't lay a finger on them" I replied as I jumped into the air, katana ready to strike.

Before my sword struck him, I was met with his barrier. I growled with frustration as I landed back on the ground. Naraku threw is tentacles toward me, hoping to pierce me and end my life. **He underestimates you, **my demon laughed. I wasn't laughing though, I was determined to kill this vile creature. I slashed away at his tenticles, slicing them to pieces. I was furious, how dare he come near my friends!

I was careless and was knocked back and staggered by a stray tentacle. Quickly, I got my balance and tried to come up with a new strategy. 'This isn't good. I'm not prepared to fight him like this. I haven't found what I need to kill him.' I was so deep in thought that I hadn't realized a tentacle coming in from behind, piercing its' way through my left shoulder. Before I could react, another came in, homing in on my heart. I prepared to dodge, but before it could hit, Shippo jumped in front of me, taking the blow to his stomach.

I cried out as I saw my son before me, falling to the ground. With the tentacle still in my shoulder, I got him and sliced the vile thing away. I stared at the gaping hole, fearing for my adopted son's life. I gently laid him onto the ground and let my angered beast rage.

Naraku seemed satisfied with his work as he retreated the tentacles and floated away.

"It's so nice to see you again Kagome, I look forward to seeing you soon." He said as he disappeared into the miasma.

I wasted no time, grabbing bandages and medicines to heal Shippo. Sango and Miroku woke up from their unconscious states as I tightly wrapped the bandages around Shippo's wound. As I held Shippo closely, I caught a demonic scent in the wind. I handed Shippo to Sango and drew my sword.

From the distance and coverage of the forest, Sesshoumaru emerged from the shadows.


End file.
